Mostly me.

After personal statement done I did most of the t25 supplements using the 6-7 diff intro paras kid wrote to mix and match.

Then kid went back to put his spin on it.

Saved time.

Finished with everything incl regular decision

We were heavily involved with both current HS senior and with kid now in college.

Very little. We didn’t want to interfere with it sounding authentic and we didn’t want too many cooks in the kitchen with conflicting edits. We did see the almost final version for the common app essay because the outside counselor wanted us to see it before the final version.

Other than that we only got involved if it was last minute and either someone didn’t get back to our child with feedback/not enough time to ask someone to take another look or it was the final common app preview making sure there wasn’t weird spacing or something overlooked before pressing submit.

Anonymous wrote:I hired a private counselor to edit DD's applications last year after getting rejected from her REA school was either waitlisted or rejected from all the schools the counselor assisted with and DD was accepted to all the schools she did the applications all on her own. Waste of money.

Opposite exp last year. That said, quality of counselor matters along with “voice”….

I looked over their shoulder, that correct info was entered. At some point I read most of the essay but not with the intention of changing it. Just read enough to get a feel for what they had written.

Did not see apps at all. Kid has teachers review essays. Said I can see if he gets in!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let’s be honest here.

What exactly did you look at in this process (EA/ED/REA)?
Did you edit?
Directly revise?
Or just take over entirely?

What’s next?

Honestly? I revised directly in google docs.

Same. DD was sitting next to me as we talked through the edits. I’m just much better at making the cuts to get the word count down. It was definitely collaborative.

App was submitted on Monday for ED at an Ivy. 🙏

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let’s be honest here.

What exactly did you look at in this process (EA/ED/REA)?
Did you edit?
Directly revise?
Or just take over entirely?

What’s next?

Honestly? I revised directly in google docs.

Same. DD was sitting next to me as we talked through the edits. I’m just much better at making the cuts to get the word count down. It was definitely collaborative.

I hired a private counselor to edit DD's applications last year after getting rejected from her REA school was either waitlisted or rejected from all the schools the counselor assisted with and DD was accepted to all the schools she did the applications all on her own. Waste of money.

Private counselor assisted with apps although I was heavily involved. It was incredibly helpful to have a neutral third party to run interference and provide guidance.

Anonymous wrote:Let’s be honest here.

What exactly did you look at in this process (EA/ED/REA)?
Did you edit?
Directly revise?
Or just take over entirely?

What’s next?

Honestly? I revised directly in google docs.

I have never even seen DC’s essays, although a teacher has.

I wonder, all things being equal (eg, adjusted by hook/GPA/scores), how does admission outcome change depending on whether someone has engaged outside counselors vs someone who did not…..

Presumably these hired guns are doing all of the editing; revising; ensuring prompts are answered; developing cohesive story etc.

Minimal.
Yes, edited essays by hand and reviews pdf submission for ED school (but not others)….


Truthfully, there’s a lot I would change, and I asked to be more involved in the upcoming set of apps.

I have heard horror stories of (private) kids, not getting in to a bunch of schools expected to be admitted into because the essays really did not answer the prompts and were never looked at by any adult with fine detail (as is expected with that cohort).

Let’s be honest here.

What exactly did you look at in this process (EA/ED/REA)?
Did you edit?
Directly revise?
Or just take over entirely?

What’s next?